


Hide and Seek

by SailorSol



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Collection: Purimgifts Day 3, Female Characters, Female Protagonist, Friendship, Gen, Male-Female Friendship, POV Female Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-15
Updated: 2014-03-15
Packaged: 2018-01-15 20:49:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1318720
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SailorSol/pseuds/SailorSol
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>CJ was most certainly not hiding. As the Chief of Staff for the President of the United States, hiding was not something that she did.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hide and Seek

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ariestess](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ariestess/gifts).



CJ was most certainly not hiding. As the Chief of Staff for the President of the United States, hiding was not something that she did. Taking advantage of Josh’s currently empty office so she could get some work done without interruptions every fifteen seconds was a good plan, a wise plan even, and why Leo never thought of it while he’d had the chance, CJ couldn’t be sure, except that while Leo was still Chief of Staff, Josh was actually his Deputy and not off running a campaign.

It was a shame Donna was off working on the Russell campaign; she was well-trained as acting as gatekeeper for this office. At least when Josh hadn’t pissed her off, or when it was CJ who was the determined one to get inside the office and lie in wait for an unsuspecting Josh to walk in hoping to hide from her wrath.

Josh and Donna aren’t the only ones who are gone; Leo is gone, Toby is gone, Sam is gone; these days, CJ feels horribly alone and burdened with a huge amount of responsibility she never thought she would be able to bear. She spends most nights calling Leo for advice, and on the nights she doesn’t call him, she’s up late having long discussions with the president. She longs for familiar faces, and maybe that’s why she hides in Josh’s office, because it’s more familiar than the office that she still thinks of as Leo’s, even though the decorators have come through and changed it to suit her needs.

There’s a knock at the door, and then Charlie’s coming in, and CJ should have known it would be him, because he’s the only one who’d think to come look for her here.

“The president’s taking the rest of the afternoon off,” Charlie says, dropping into the chair across from her.

“Good. That’s good. He deserves it.”

Charlie snorts, then points at the stack of folders leaning precariously near the edge of Josh’s desk. “Need me to take care of those?”

“If by take care of them, you mean tossing them onto a giant bonfire which we can then dance around like heathens while drinking far too much liquor, then yes,” she says, letting her reading glasses drop loose on the chain around her neck.

“I’m sure the Secret Service won’t have a problem if we start a fire on the lawn,” Charlie replies dryly.

“This is why you’re my favorite.” She’s tired, and the sun is starting to set because early winter in DC is a horrible place, not at all like southern California, and if she hadn’t been fired from her job the same day that Toby had shown up outside her house, she would never have agreed to come here. “Have I mentioned that to you lately?”

Charlie’s grin is crooked, and CJ takes a moment to appreciate how much he’s grown up since that day he’d shown up looking for a job as a courier and ended up as the president’s aide instead. “That’s why I get the ‘special’ in my title, I know.”

CJ manages a tired but genuine smile. “You need the extra clout to order around the interns, otherwise they might mistake you for one of them.”

He makes a face and pushes himself out of his chair. “Just for that, I’m going to tell Margaret where you’re hiding.”

The horror isn’t entirely fake. “You wouldn’t.”

Charlie shrugs at her in false apology. “Someone has to keep you honest. And I’m the only one left, these days.”

That much is true; Charlie hadn’t been there during the campaign, but he’d been there through the worst of things--Josh getting shot, Leo’s alcoholism, the president’s MS, Zoey getting kidnapped, every trial and tribulation they’ve been through in the past six years that have led them to this point now. “You do that, and I’m taking away your title, no matter what Margaret says.”

He considers her reply for a long moment, a smile tugging at his lips. “Your secret’s safe with me. This time.”

He shuts the door behind him, and CJ knows she’ll be able to not-hide for a while longer.

* * *

 


End file.
